The social media affordances of Twitter pre-Musk, and the variety of ways transgender users have been able to form communities and seek education and support.
What kinds of practices did transgender users engage in on Twitter? For example, were they mainly sharing personal experiences, educational content, or activism?
Hi Cass!
I loved your presentation – it was both thorough and easy to follow, and the formatting is super cute!! The topic is also interesting, and I enjoyed how you explored both anonymity and hashtag activism as both smaller and larger scale influences on trans users.
1. I’m curious on the impact of the low-level affordances of likes and rts on Twitter. How influential is this micro-level support on trans users, and how do these small interactions foster genuine communities online?
2. How do trans users navigate tension between the validation sourced from visibility and the safety provided by the use of pseudonyms and anonymity on public platforms like Twitter?
3. Hashtag activism is becoming increasingly important and influential in an increasingly online world. How do the #protecttranskids and #girlslikeus hashtags generate sustainable, long-term support for the trans community, and how can they combat the risk of hashtags being overshadowed by other online trends, particularly on a fast-paced, trend driven platform like Twitter?
I look forward to your answers!
Bethany 😊
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